{
  "capabilities": [
    {
      "id": "visa-intelligent-commerce",
      "name": "Visa Intelligent Commerce",
      "note": "Stage judged live on the strength of Visa's reported US transactions and the June 2026 general availability of the Connect on-ramp, but no precise live date could be verified in sources consulted, so stage_start_date is unverified rather than asserted.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "MeshPay: Agentic Payment Protocols Compared (Visa live in US, per Visa)",
          "url": "https://www.meshpay.com/blog/agentic-payment-protocols-compared"
        },
        {
          "label": "Money in Motion: June Market Recap 2026 (Connect general availability within June 2026)",
          "url": "https://moneyinmotion101.substack.com/p/money-in-motion-june-market-recap"
        },
        {
          "label": "Digital Commerce 360: Visa opens payment tools for AI agents (launch)",
          "url": "https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2025/05/06/visa-mastercard-ai-agentic-commerce/"
        }
      ],
      "stage": "live",
      "stage_history": [
        {
          "date": "2025-04-30",
          "note": "Program announced at Visa Global Product Drop.",
          "stage": "announced"
        },
        {
          "date": "2026-04-08",
          "note": "Intelligent Commerce Connect announced (pilot partners).",
          "stage": "pilot"
        }
      ],
      "stage_start_date": "unverified"
    },
    {
      "id": "visa-agent-score",
      "name": "Visa Agent Score",
      "note": "A merchant-facing readiness check for whether agents can navigate and complete tasks on a site (built with New Generation, per press coverage). No general-availability or production-use evidence was found in sources consulted.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "thesoftix: Agentic Commerce for SMBs in 2026 (Agent Score, Agentic Directory)",
          "url": "https://thesoftix.com/agentic-commerce-smb-payments-2026/"
        },
        {
          "label": "TechSoma: Visa and OpenAI Partner (Agent Score, Agentic Directory)",
          "url": "https://techsoma.africa/visa-and-openai-partner-to-build-the-payment-infrastructure-for-ai-agents/"
        }
      ],
      "stage": "announced",
      "stage_history": [
        {
          "date": "2026-06-10",
          "note": "Introduced at Visa Payments Forum, San Francisco.",
          "stage": "announced"
        }
      ],
      "stage_start_date": "2026-06-10"
    },
    {
      "id": "visa-agentic-directory",
      "name": "Visa Agentic Directory",
      "note": "Registry of Visa-verified agents and merchants. Announced June 10, 2026; first production use verified in the October 20, 2026 BILL pilot, where the BILL Payment Agent registers via TAP and the Agentic Directory.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "thesoftix: Agentic Commerce for SMBs in 2026 (Agent Score, Agentic Directory)",
          "url": "https://thesoftix.com/agentic-commerce-smb-payments-2026/"
        },
        {
          "label": "Visa press release: Visa, BILL and Billtrust first live pilot",
          "url": "https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/newsroom/press-releases.releaseId.22856.html"
        }
      ],
      "stage": "pilot",
      "stage_history": [
        {
          "date": "2026-06-10",
          "note": "Introduced at Visa Payments Forum, San Francisco.",
          "stage": "announced"
        },
        {
          "date": "2026-10-20",
          "note": "Used for agent registration in the Visa/BILL/Billtrust live pilot.",
          "stage": "pilot"
        }
      ],
      "stage_start_date": "2026-10-20"
    },
    {
      "id": "visa-bill-billtrust-pilot",
      "name": "Visa / BILL / Billtrust first live pilot",
      "note": "Trusted AI agents initiate and complete approved buyer invoice payments end-to-end through supplier portals. Announced as a live pilot, explicitly not a full commercial rollout; buyers set payment instructions and controls, suppliers retain acceptance rules and visibility.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "Visa press release: Visa, BILL and Billtrust first live pilot",
          "url": "https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/newsroom/press-releases.releaseId.22856.html"
        },
        {
          "label": "Billtrust: AI Agents for Payments",
          "url": "https://www.billtrust.com/news/news-visa-bill-billtrust-launch-ai-agents-for-payments"
        },
        {
          "label": "BILL press release: Visa, BILL and Billtrust first live pilot",
          "url": "https://www.bill.com/press-release/visa-bill-and-billtrust-launch-first-live-pilot"
        }
      ],
      "stage": "pilot",
      "stage_history": [
        {
          "date": "2026-10-20",
          "note": "First live pilot announced in Las Vegas; pilot processes transactions involving participating BILL buyers and Billtrust suppliers.",
          "stage": "pilot"
        }
      ],
      "stage_start_date": "2026-10-20"
    },
    {
      "id": "mastercard-agent-pay",
      "name": "Mastercard Agent Pay",
      "note": "General availability is US-wide; global expansion was reported as underway through 2026. The live date is month precision only: full US availability was reported for November 2025, but the exact day was not verified in sources consulted.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "Mastercard Newsroom: Agent Pay launch",
          "url": "http://newsroom.mastercard.com/news/press/2025/april/mastercard-unveils-agent-pay-pioneering-agentic-payments-technology-to-power-commerce-in-the-age-of-ai/"
        },
        {
          "label": "eco.com: Agentic Payments (Agent Pay rollout: pilot, PayPal, US availability)",
          "url": "https://eco.com/support/en/articles/14839401-agentic-payments-how-ai-agents-pay"
        }
      ],
      "stage": "live",
      "stage_history": [
        {
          "date": "2025-04-29",
          "note": "Program announced (Mastercard Newsroom).",
          "stage": "announced"
        },
        {
          "date": "2025-09",
          "note": "Citi and US Bank cardholders gain first access (pilot).",
          "stage": "pilot"
        },
        {
          "date": "2025-11",
          "note": "Full US availability for cardholders (month precision).",
          "stage": "live"
        }
      ],
      "stage_start_date": "2025-11"
    },
    {
      "id": "mastercard-agent-pay-for-machines",
      "name": "Mastercard Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M)",
      "stage": "early-access",
      "stage_start_date": "2026-10-20",
      "stage_history": [
        {
          "stage": "pilot",
          "date": "2026-06-10",
          "note": "Launched with 30+ initial participants; end-to-end pilots with Cloudflare, Coinbase, Base, Ant International, BVNK and AIsa."
        },
        {
          "stage": "early-access",
          "date": "2026-10-20",
          "note": "Early developer access opened at Cloudflare Connect, San Francisco: buyer- and seller-side APIs, developer toolkit, testing sandbox. Demonstration: one agent made 9 payments to 2 merchants under one approved budget, running on x402."
        }
      ],
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "Agentic Plug: What Is Mastercard Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M)?",
          "url": "https://agenticplug.ai/blog/what-is-mastercard-agent-pay-for-machines"
        },
        {
          "label": "MeshPay: Agentic Payment Protocols Compared",
          "url": "https://www.meshpay.com/blog/agentic-payment-protocols-compared"
        },
        {
          "label": "Crypto Briefing: Mastercard opens early access at Cloudflare Connect",
          "url": "https://cryptobriefing.com/mastercard-agent-pay-machines-early-access/"
        },
        {
          "label": "PaySpace Magazine: Mastercard Opens Early Access to Agent Pay for Machines",
          "url": "https://payspacemagazine.com/news/mastercard-opens-early-access-to-agent-pay-for-machines-for-ai-agent-payments/"
        },
        {
          "label": "Coin360: Mastercard Opens AI Agent Payments to Developers",
          "url": "https://coin360.com/news/mastercard-agent-pay-machines-ai-payments"
        }
      ],
      "note": "Developer opening, not general availability. The program itself is still described as pilot stage for commercial availability; the October 2026 step opened it to developers, not to general commercial use."
    },
    {
      "id": "santander-europe-first-live",
      "name": "Santander Europe first live agent payment",
      "note": "Controlled-environment transaction on Santander's live payments infrastructure within a regulated banking framework; Santander stated it would move into extended testing and scaling. Judged pilot, not general availability, on the issuer's own characterization.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "Mastercard Newsroom: Santander and Mastercard complete Europe's first live agent payment",
          "url": "https://www.mastercard.com/news/europe/en/newsroom/press-releases/en/2026/santander-and-mastercard-complete-europe-s-first-live-end-to-end-payment-executed-by-an-ai-agent/"
        },
        {
          "label": "Forkast: Seven Months After Europe's First Agent Payment",
          "url": "https://forkast.news/seven-months-after-europes-first-agent-payment-the-trust-layer-is-still-under-construction/"
        }
      ],
      "stage": "pilot",
      "stage_history": [
        {
          "date": "2026-03-02",
          "note": "Europe's first live end-to-end payment executed by an AI agent, announced in London and Madrid.",
          "stage": "pilot"
        }
      ],
      "stage_start_date": "2026-03-02"
    },
    {
      "id": "mastercard-trust-framework",
      "name": "Mastercard Agent Pay Trust Framework",
      "note": "Judged announced, not live: the framework is a published document (white paper 'Trust for agentic commerce') whose component services were announced the same day. The AI-initiated probability score is in US testing, not general availability; Cloudflare and Skyfire partnerships support verification work. A framework document has no general-availability date of its own.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "Mastercard Investor Relations: Trust and Intelligence Services (2026-09-30)",
          "url": "https://s25.q4cdn.com/479285134/files/doc_news/Mastercard-Advances-Agentic-Commerce-With-New-Trust-and-Intelligence-Services-2026.pdf"
        },
        {
          "label": "Banking News AI: Mastercard AI Strategy (timeline)",
          "url": "https://www.bankingnewsai.com/fintech/mastercard"
        }
      ],
      "stage": "announced",
      "stage_history": [
        {
          "date": "2026-09-30",
          "note": "White paper published; five pillars (identity, intent, controls, trusted execution, intelligence); new trust and intelligence services announced.",
          "stage": "announced"
        }
      ],
      "stage_start_date": "2026-09-30"
    },
    {
      "id": "google-ap2",
      "name": "Google Agent Payments Protocol (AP2)",
      "note": "Judged standard because governance moved to a neutral body (FIDO Alliance, two technical working groups) with a published specification; version development continues (v0.2 is the latest verified version).",
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "inriver: What are AP2, MPP, and x402?",
          "url": "https://www.inriver.com/resources/ap2-mpp-x402-payment-protocols-agent-commerce/"
        },
        {
          "label": "MeshPay: Agentic Payment Protocols Compared",
          "url": "https://www.meshpay.com/blog/agentic-payment-protocols-compared"
        }
      ],
      "stage": "standard",
      "stage_history": [
        {
          "date": "2025-09-16",
          "note": "Announced by Google with 60+ organizations.",
          "stage": "announced"
        },
        {
          "date": "2026-04-28",
          "note": "v0.2 released and donated to the FIDO Alliance.",
          "stage": "standard"
        }
      ],
      "stage_start_date": "2026-04-28"
    },
    {
      "id": "x402",
      "name": "x402",
      "note": "Production transaction volume is reported by multiple independent trackers (Chainalysis: 100M+ cumulative transactions on Base through Q1 2026; foundation dashboard: ~75M transactions and ~$24M volume in the trailing 30 days at July 2026, a vendor figure). Mainnet went live the same day as the protocol launch.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "eco.com: x402 Protocol Explained",
          "url": "https://eco.com/support/en/articles/14839402-x402-protocol-explained?ref=blockhead.co"
        },
        {
          "label": "Yellow: AI Agent Payments Explained (x402, AP2, stablecoins)",
          "url": "https://yellow.com/learn/ai-agent-payments-explained-x402-ap2-stablecoins"
        },
        {
          "label": "Concordium: x402 Explained",
          "url": "https://www.concordium.com/article/x402-explained-agentic-payments-identity"
        }
      ],
      "stage": "live",
      "stage_history": [
        {
          "date": "2025-05-06",
          "note": "Coinbase launch; mainnet live the same day.",
          "stage": "live"
        }
      ],
      "stage_start_date": "2025-05-06"
    },
    {
      "id": "x402-foundation",
      "name": "x402 Foundation",
      "note": "Neutral governance under the Linux Foundation. Announced September 23, 2025 (Coinbase and Cloudflare); formalized April 2, 2026; operationally launched July 14, 2026 with 40 member organizations.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "Linux Foundation press release: operational launch of the x402 Foundation",
          "url": "https://www.linuxfoundation.org/press/linux-foundation-announces-operational-launch-of-x402-foundation-to-standardize-internet-native-payments-for-ai-agents-and-applications"
        },
        {
          "label": "Concordium: x402 Explained",
          "url": "https://www.concordium.com/article/x402-explained-agentic-payments-identity"
        }
      ],
      "stage": "standard",
      "stage_history": [
        {
          "date": "2025-09-23",
          "note": "Foundation plans announced by Coinbase and Cloudflare.",
          "stage": "announced"
        },
        {
          "date": "2026-07-14",
          "note": "Operational launch under the Linux Foundation, 40 members.",
          "stage": "standard"
        }
      ],
      "stage_start_date": "2026-07-14"
    }
  ],
  "criteria": {
    "announced": "The owner has publicly announced the capability. No production availability, even limited, has been verified.",
    "early-access": "Available to developers or partners on an application, waitlist or invitation basis, with APIs, a toolkit or a sandbox, ahead of general availability.",
    "live": "Generally available in production for its stated market, with real transactions occurring outside a closed pilot.",
    "pilot": "Real transactions or production use with a named, limited set of participants: first or controlled transactions, closed group, not generally available.",
    "standard": "The specification is governed by a neutral standards body or foundation under open governance, with a published specification. Versioned development may continue."
  },
  "generated": "2026-10-27",
  "note": "Live-status dataset for agentwillpay.com. Stages use only the five values announced, pilot, early-access, live, standard. No scores, no rankings. A stage_start_date of \"unverified\" means the stage judgment is sourced but the precise start date could not be confirmed; no date in this file is invented."
}